Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1466689
IN THE WIND P28 Suzuki To Quit MotoGP At The End Of 2022 S uzuki will pull out of Mo- toGP competition at the end of the 2022 season, Cycle News has learned. In a move that will send shockwaves through the MotoGP paddock, Suzuki will close its MotoGP opera- tions just two seasons after clinching its first World Championship title in 20 years with Joan Mir in 2020. Suzuki officials gathered team members today (May 2) to inform them of the de- cision to pull out of MotoGP racing, leaving the futures of Joan Mir and in particular, Alex Rins, into disarray. Mir is heavily linked to the sec- ond Repsol Honda seat currently held by Pol Espargaro, while three-time race winner Rins indicated having positive prelimi- nary talks with Suzuki in Portugal regarding his 2023 seat. Suzuki lost an integral part of its title-winning team in 2020 with the departure of team manager Davide Brivio to the Alpine For- mula One team. The team was thus run by Project Leader and engineer, Shinichi Sahara, who admitted running the engineering side and team management was too much for him to bear. Thus, 2022 saw the arrival of ex-Repsol Honda and Ducati boss, Livio Suppo, who has since come out with "no com- ment" when questioned on Suzuki's future. Suzuki was a mainstay in MotoGP competition, compet- ing from the early 1970s in the 500cc era and winning titles with Barry Sheene, Marco Luc- chinelli, Franco Unchini, Kevin Schwantz and Kenny Roberts Jr. The four-stroke era was less kind to the Hamamatsu brand, with only one race victory added between 2002 and 2015 thanks to Australian Chris Vermeulen at a rain-lashed French Grand Prix in 2007. Suzuki pulled out of MotoGP competition at the end of 2012, preferring to develop its new GSX-RR racer away from the spotlight. The company returned to MotoGP competition in 2015. Maverick Vinales scored Su- zuki's next MotoGP race win at Silverstone in 2016, followed by Rins and Mir between 2017 and 2022. The official announcement from the Suzuki Ecstar MotoGP team is expected tomorrow (May 3) and we will have more on this breaking news story as it un- folds. Rennie Scaysbrook Suzuki is expected to formally announce that it is going to withdrawal from MotoGP at the end of 2022.